Flat frame knitting machine



Aug. 21, 1934. J. B. MOREU ET AL 1,971,079

FLAT FRAME KNITTING MACHINE Filed Ocfc. 6,-' 1932 v "I Y 7 AM m2 mu t 7 }Fig" 4- 3nnentota,

Gttorneg Patented Aug. 21, 1934 UNITED sirres;

FLA? F AME KNITTING MACHINE .JuanBam'is Moreu and Luis'Bam'is Barcelona, Spain'r: I

Moreu,

Application October. 6, 1932, Serial No. 636 ,602l

In Spain October; 14, 1931 iz'olaimsa (or. 66-60) This invention relates to flat "frame knitting machines. I

An object of the invention is. toincrea'se the output and to improve the quality of the prom ucts oflsuch machines, particularly those for making fine grade fabrics, such as those composed of very fine meshed silk yarn as usually employed for hosiery.

The degree of fineness of knitted fabric is determined by the number of stitches or horizontal undulations produced in one single course over a certain width and since for each stitch a needle is indispensable, it follows that a fabric will be the finer the greater the number of needles contained in the needle bed or beds of the frame. In modern flat frame knitting machines, such as Cottons, the needle beds are accordingly equipped with a large number of needles arranged very close to one another, but these needles are fixed to the bar of the needle bed and hence can only produce one row of stitches for each traverse of the cam. box.

In order to permit the needles to produce more than one row of stitches during each traverse of the cam box, it is necessary that they be movable or independent, for which purpose they must be placed in grooves or channels: along which they can slide. These grooves, however, take up space in the needle bed and prevent close spacing of the needles, thereby reducing the number of stitches and affecting the fineness of the fabric. 7

There are other fiat frame knitting machines with movable needles, such as those provided with vtwo needle beds, one in front of the other, but the needles of these beds move in different planes, generally at an angle or in a different direction and vary the kind of weave, but in all cases the two needle beds are separate and independent.

By means of the improvements according to the present invention, it is possible to arrange in each needle bed, without increasing its length, a greater number of movable needles, all of them working along the same line and capable of effecting different stitches in the same course.

In order to impart a clearer understanding of the present invention, reference will be made to the accompanying drawing illustrating merely by way of example one mode of carrying it into effect.

Fig. 1 shows a plane view of a needle bed composed of a metal bar or plate of varying sizes.

Fig. 2 is a cross section of Fig. 1.

- Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of Fig. 1.

- Fig. 4 is a -detail viewofapair ofineedles.

d Fig; 5 is enlarged sectional view of part. of the needle bed.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of a part of a flat frameknitting machine showingn'eedlesin. po sitiondn'theneedle'bed, and associated. operatingcarns. I 5

Fig.7 is a'view illustrating the manufacture of three meshes in each traverse of the cam box by the use of the invention.

The bed 1 has needle grooves on both sides 4 and 5 whereby the needle bed is enabled to hold double the number of needles, that is to say one set in the grooves of one side and another set in the grooves of the other side, the arrangement being the equivalent of a one-sided needle bed of double the length of that shown for stitches of double the width.

In order to ensure horizontal alignment of the two sets of needles along one and the same line, the grooves on one side of the plate are arranged in staggered relation to those on the other side, as shown clearly in Fig. 5 so as to uniformly space the needles and prevent their ends from touching one another. As regards the vertical alignment of the needles, this is ensured by the shape of the needles, those of one side differing from those of the other as shown in Fig. 4, in which one needle 6 has a straight stem. and inverted end and the other 7 has a bent stem and an ordinary end. These needles are placed alternatingly in the front and rear grooves of the plate, forming a single needle bed along a single line.

The movement of the needles is controlled by cams 8, Fig. 6, which are identical in shape and are placed on each side of the plate 1. The cams push the ends of the needles during the stroke of the comb to which they are attached, as shown in Fig. 6. These cams are similar to those in knitting frames and varying numbers may be provided so that at each stroke different stitches will be formed, whereby the output of the frame is increased. Fig. 7 shows the manufacture of three meshes, in each traverse of the cam box.

The needle bed plate with double grooves hereinbefore described and shown at 4, 5, in Fig. 1, may consist of a single piece milled on both sides, or of two or more pieces or plates connected together to form a single piece.

It is to be understood that the arrangement of the double needle bed illustrated differs essentially from all known types in that in the many different flat frame knitting machines with two separate needle beds the latter are arranged in such a manner that their grooved surfaces lie in one plane or in two planes at a more or less obtuse angle, but they are never contained in two parallel planes as in the present invention.

Recapitulating, the invention comprises a flat frame knitting machine so arranged that on opposite sides of each needle bed of any desired length there is provided a number of parallel vertical grooves or channels of sufiicient width to accommodate needles of difierent shape from one another on opposite sides of the bed, but which, when alternately aligned, have all their pivoted hook ends along the same line and are moved by similar cams on both sides.

The arrangement described permits, if desired, of an increase, up to double, in the number of needles contained in each needle bed, without involving any increase in its length and interference of the needle owing to the width of the grooves, all of which is productive of a weave of maximum fineness.

The arrangement also permits of the use of differently shaped cams which in each course of the comb determine the production of various stitches simultaneously; hence a considerable increase in output of the machine can be obtained.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we claim is:

1. In a flat frame knitting machine the combination of a needle bed, said needle bed having grooves therein upon opposite parallel sides thereof, needles having straight stems and inverted ends located in the grooves upon one side of said bed and needles having offset stems located in the grooves upon the other side of said bed so that the hook ends of all of said needles will lie in alignment.

2. In a flat frame knitting machine the combination of a needle bed, opposite parallel sides of said needle bed having grooves therein, needles supported in said grooves and cams acting simultaneously upon the needles upon both sides of said needle bed thereby determining the production of stitches of the same or different character during each traverse of the cam box.

JUAN BANL'Is MOREU. LUIS BANI'IS MOREU. 

